Dota 2

Nefaro · August 02, 2013, 01:05:22 AM

I'm learning ranged characters somewhat, but I just get murderized too much as melee.

It's also a pain in the butt to try shopping whilst trying to lane farm or push. That'll get easier as I'm more familiar with item recipe progression and each individual character's item needs, but I don't see that knowledge getting in there very quickly. :)

The preset build feature is nice but I haven't dabbled with it yet. That should make it easier to 'bookmark' specific item progression to use with specific characters but kinda useless until I figure out what each one needs.

Looks like I'll be doing practice bot matches for quite some time. :-[

Huw the Poo · August 02, 2013, 01:11:49 AM

Yeah, don't be in any rush to play against other people. I went through all of the middle lane practice matches as well as all of the vs. bots matches before I tried it.

Don't forget your courier! When you want to shop just head a short way into the jungle so that the enemy can't see you, buy what you need, then get your courier to bring it. One thing I found useful was if you left-click on an item with the shop interface open, it shows you what you could make using that item as a base.

I've had a guest all week so haven't been able to play, but I'm looking forward to diving back in on the weekend. Looks like Geek will be joining me too. 8)

jomni · August 02, 2013, 03:28:05 AM

For those who don't know. Dota stands for Defense of the Ancients. It is a Warcraft 3 mod.

Nefaro · August 02, 2013, 09:19:55 AM

Quote from: Huw the Poo on August 02, 2013, 01:11:49 AM
Yeah, don't be in any rush to play against other people. I went through all of the middle lane practice matches as well as all of the vs. bots matches before I tried it.

Don't forget your courier! When you want to shop just head a short way into the jungle so that the enemy can't see you, buy what you need, then get your courier to bring it. One thing I found useful was if you left-click on an item with the shop interface open, it shows you what you could make using that item as a base.

I've actually learned most tips like these. Just need to get better at remembering and using all of them. Right now, I'd say learning the web of item upgrades, and what each character needs most, is the biggest hill to climb.

The next hill on the horizon is getting efficient using the interface. There's a lot of fast clicking and what compounds that issue is the amount of vertical view available. It's not much at all. I nearly always have to slew the view back & forth in order to get longer move orders off or to target something that's moving. The restricted view/zoom is a pain in the ass, in this regard. I can tell this still uses the old Warcraft 3 game engine because that was always a problem in it, too. They may as well put the mini-map front & center in the UI since it receives move clicks so much. ???

Huw the Poo · August 02, 2013, 02:32:10 PM

Quote from: Nefaro on August 02, 2013, 09:19:55 AM
Right now, I'd say learning the web of item upgrades, and what each character needs most, is the biggest hill to climb.

Agreed. Although when you start playing with people at a certain level you'll be expected to know what all the heroes' abilities are, too.

With regard to the viewable area, I think it's like this by design. All the MOBAs do it. I've gotten used to it now, and don't forget you can click the minimap to set a long move target.

Have you read the "You Suck" guide yet? It really is an excellent primer.

What are you actually enjoying about the game so far? For me, it's all about laning. I love how tense it is, being only metres from your opponent, getting those last hits in, denying your opponent the same, maybe going in for a bit of harrassment when his guard's down. It's enthralling. I almost lose interest when it gets to the point where a base is being attacked, even if it's my team doing the attacking. :)

Nefaro · August 02, 2013, 03:30:16 PM

Yeah, the laning build-up is interesting. My performance starts suffering later in the game, compared to most of my bot teammates. But I suppose that's because I've mostly only been practicing Support roles.

Bison · August 05, 2013, 01:05:22 PM

OK this is a pretty fun game. I've only played the tutorial stuff, but it's pretty addictive. It'll be interesting to play in some public matches.

Huw the Poo · August 05, 2013, 01:34:04 PM

Cool, I'm glad you're enjoying it mate. So far I've played four public matches and haven't encountered any bellends at all! Perhaps they're in the upper brackets. :)

Bison · August 05, 2013, 02:15:11 PM

I just spent the last hour getting swore at in I think Portuguese. Of course I could have told them it was my first public match, but I guess they should have figured that out from all the dying I did!

I'm focusing on playing the Windrunner, but I suspect I might need to try another class or twenty before I find my comfort class.

Huw the Poo · August 05, 2013, 02:24:52 PM

Quote from: Bison on August 05, 2013, 02:15:11 PM
I just spent the last hour getting swore at in I think Portuguese.

Haha! Good work! In one of the games I played this week I started talking on voice comms at the start of the game and someone immediately told me to stop talking! I was like "er no, if you don't want to hear me, mute me!" Fortunately that's the only even remotely negative interaction I've had with the community thus far.

Try not to die too much though. Feeder. :P ;)

Bison · August 05, 2013, 03:13:20 PM

Wow. I just played with the most disrespectful players. One guy sat on chat abusing another teammate for everything and another was going after the same player in text chat with some pretty foul trolling language. Reported both, but frankly I don't think it really matters. Some people need to move out of their mom's basement and live in the real world for awhile.

Huw the Poo · August 05, 2013, 04:33:08 PM

Eurgh, you're not having much luck there Bison. How are you finding matches? I'm still using the training interface to do the "play vs humans" mission. I think I'm at 4/10 by now.

TheCommandTent · August 05, 2013, 04:35:15 PM

Dota and League of Legends are both know for their very toxic communities. I don't know about Dota but LoL has instituted a number of measures to curb this, such as the reporting and honor system as well as the tribunal system to review all complaints. I've been playing for about a year and in that year I can tell it has helped alot. Still there are just those people with nothing better to do than rage online.

Huw the Poo · August 05, 2013, 04:38:41 PM

It seems to be endemic to MOBAs as a whole...with the solitary exception of Rise of Immortals. It's a shame that game is now defunct. It was rather fun. :(

Nefaro · August 05, 2013, 05:18:32 PM

Quote from: Bison on August 05, 2013, 02:15:11 PM
I just spent the last hour getting swore at in I think Portuguese. Of course I could have told them it was my first public match, but I guess they should have figured that out from all the dying I did!

I'm focusing on playing the Windrunner, but I suspect I might need to try another class or twenty before I find my comfort class.

I've not played a single public match yet. Been taking my sweet time in practice matches with bots in order to become more familiar with the classes, item pyramid, not dying as much, etc.